Dallas cop shot 3 times, suspect in custody

Rakeem Perkins, 20, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault for the shooting of Officer Joshua Burns

By Melissa Repko
The Dallas Morning News

Bail has been set at $2 million for the man accused of shooting a Dallas police officer on Saturday.

Rakeem Perkins, 20, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault of a public servant. He is accused of shooting Officer Joshua Burns three times when Burns was responding to a disturbance in far northeast Dallas, police said.

Burns and Perkins remained in the hospital Sunday night. Both were in stable condition with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening.

When Burns and another officer responded about noon Saturday to the disturbance at an apartment complex in the 13000 block of Audelia Road, near West Walnut Street, they encountered Perkins sitting in a vehicle.

Perkins began shooting at the officers, who returned fire, police said. He fled, and a manhunt ensued. Shortly before 6 p.m., Perkins, wounded and escorted by his mother, turned himself in.

Carlos Garcia, who lives across the street from Perkins' North Dallas home, said he was stunned to see his neighbor on the news. "He seemed like a calm dude," he said. "I never had any problems with him."

Perkins lives with his mother in the 12000 block of Bellafonte Drive, near Forest Lane and North Central Expressway. Garcia said he also saw kids at the house, jumping on a trampoline in the front yard.

About two months ago, Garcia said Perkins loaned him a cellphone and gave him a ride when he had car trouble. He seemed to have a job, because his car was gone during work hours, Garcia said.

Garcia, who moved to the neighborhood three months ago, said he never noticed problems across the street. But he did hear an argument there between a man and a woman on Thursday or Friday, he said.